Pot covers are often removed from hot cooking pots or frying pans and placed on a countertop. Material inside the cover or along the edges of the cover may dirty the countertop. A cover which is exceptionally hot may scorch or burn a countertop. The pot cover must be kept clean when it is placed on the countertop. Therefore, it cannot be placed in a sink which may be partially filled with soapy water, for example. Since the countertop often carries moisture or moist products it is liable to pick up dust or unwanted particulate matter with which it comes in contact. Often there is little room to place a pot cover aside when preparing complex meals. The problems exist in private and commercial kitchens and anywhere food is prepared.
The present invention overcomes known problems of the prior art.
A preferred embodiment of pot cover holder of the present invention is formed from a unitary wire frame having a first mounting portion, a second pot cover holding portion and third intermediate portions joining the first and second portions. The first portion has parallel vertically oriented lengths of wire having upper ends configured for joining to attachment means for mounting the holder on a vertical surface and having lower ends joined to the third intermediate portions. The second pot cover holding portion is a wire loop having first and second legs extending generally upward from the third intermediate portions and having upper ends spaced outward from the vertical wires of the first portion. A middle pot cover knob-receiving section of the second portion has upper extremities connected to upper ends of the legs. The middle section extends downward and inward to a middle point which is spaced downward and inward from the upper ends of the legs. The middle section thereby forms a V section. The second cover holding portion thereby forms an M-shaped portion. A pot cover knob is received within the V-shaped section and the pot cover rests against the legs of the M-shaped holder portion when a pot cover is held in the holder.
The preferred intermediate portions are two bent generally V-shaped connecting sections of the unitary wire between the first vertical sections of the attachmnt portion and lower ends of the legs of the second holder portion.
In one preferred embodiment, a drip catcher is connected to the intermediate portion.
A preferred drip catcher has a V-shaped trough having a first wall overlying the attachment portion vertical wires. A second wall overlies the legs of the holder portion. Side walls interconnect the first and second walls.
Preferably, an attachment attaches the drip catcher to at least one of the first and second portions.
A preferred attachment uses side wall extensions wrapped around the wire of the first and second portions and fastened to the first and second walls of the drip catcher.
In one preferred holder embodiment, the V-shaped middle section of the second holder portion and the legs of the second holder portion are formed in a single plane.
A preferred attachment fixed to upper ends of the vertical wires comprises suction cups having outward extending knobs. Ends of the wires are formed in circles for attachment to the knobs.
One preferred pot cover holder has first and second generally V-shaped sides having proximal and distal ends. The proximal ends are configured for attaching to wall attachments. A generally V-shaped pot cover knob-receiver is connected to distal ends of the V-shaped sides. A drip-catcher pan is mounted between the V-shaped sides at lower convergent portions thereof for receiving drips from a pot cover held within the V-shaped knob-receiver.
In one preferred embodiment the proximal ends are configured as loops, and suction cups are connected to the loops for attaching the pot cover holder to a vertical surface.
A preferred pot cover holder has a single continuous wire having a loop in a first end and having a first suction cup attached to the first loop. The wire extends downward in a first vertical part, is bent upward and outward in a first outward leg and then is bent downward and transversely to a medial point. The wire is then bent upward and transversely and then downward to form a second leg, and then is bent upward to form a second vertical part, terminating upwardly in a second loop which is attached to a second suction cup. The suction cups attach the pot cover holder to a vertical surface.
In that embodiment, sides of the pot cover holder are formed in general V shapes, and a medial portion of the pot cover holder is formed in a general V shape in a plane substantially transverse to the first V shapes of the sides. The medial portion receives a knob of a pot cover and holds the knob with the pot cover resting against the legs.
These and further and other objects and features of the invention are apparent in the disclosure which includes the above and ongoing written description, including the claims and the drawings.